» Josh Bard

I know this is old news, but Josh Bard was cut by the Red Sox. This sets George Kottaras up with the job of catching Tim Wakefield. Bard was seen as the replacement to Kevin Cash—who signed with the Yankees—as the Sox’ backup backstop, though Terry Francona said there would be a competition. Kottaras now is the winner of the competition and is going to embark on his rookie season.

Kottaras, who was traded to the Red Sox to complete the waiver deal that sent David Wells to San Diego in 2006, is out of minor league options and would have to clear waivers if he were to be sent down. Additionally, Kottaras must either be on the Major League roster or traded by the end of Spring Training, which may be one of the primary reasons he was given the edge to Bard, who is now with the Nationals.

Kottaras isn’t the first young catcher to try his hand at Wakefield, but unlike Bard he hasn’t been completely thrown into this role. In 2006 former Yankees backup John Flaherty was signed to be Wake’s personal catcher, but he chickened out near the beginning of Spring Training (typical Yankee, cowering out when things get tough). After this veteran Ken Huckaby was going to take his place but lost his battle to Bard after injuring his knee. Then Doug Mirabelli was brought in to backup Wakefield once again.

If Kottaras doesn’t work out, the Red Sox do have options that would work, though based on their philosophy I doubt they will make any of the following moves:

Bring back Mirabelli: Doug was cut in 2008 because his offense wasn’t very good, but in all honesty, neither was Bard’s or Cash’s. This time though, the Sox wouldn’t need to trade for him, he could just be signed as he is still a free agent.

Bring back Huckaby: Ken Huckaby never put up good offensive numbers so he was never in a stable job. But he is great defensively and he has a cannon arm. He is a free agent and could be signed cheap. The Sox could also keep Kottaras around if they wanted offense, and Huckaby could also catch in the postseason if Francona needed to put Wakefield in as a reliever and Kottaras was already out of the game, something he didn’t do in 2008 because Cash was already out of the game, and Paul Byrd wound up losing the game to the Rays.

Call up Dusty Brown: Dusty got a small taste of Big League life as a September call-up and also the emergency catcher in the postseason. He may not be completely ready, but he is an alternative.

Bring in Javy Lopez: No, I take that back. Lopez was just terrible in his short stint with the Sox in ‘06, offensively and defensively. He would be a complete burden on the Sox.

Put Wakefield in the ‘pen: He’s done it before, and it would free up the 5th rotation spot for when John Smoltz starts his season in May, and it would minimize the chances of wild pitches that plagued the Sox when they had Bard. This is not very likely since Francona doesn’t want Varitek catching Wakefield, but there is no harm in this type of move and it would regulate Varitek’s playing schedule.

For months the Red Sox’ catching position was uncertain, with both of their 2008 catchers free agents. Jason Varitek took months to finally re-sign with the club, and Kevin Cash signed with the Yankees. So while they had their starting catcher back, Tim Wakefield was without a catcher. Josh Bard was traded from the Sox for Doug Miribelli after Bard couldn’t handle Wakefield, but Bard was signed in the offseason, and he feels he is ready to catch Wakefield again.

Bard definitely is ready to catch Wakefield again and do it effectively, and he will provide more offense that Cash. But, the Red Sox have a few prospects in Pawtuckett that may be ready, which is why they only signed Bard to a minor league contract.

Jason Varitek is coming off his worst season at the plate in his career, and he isn’t getting any younger. He will need more time off this year if he wants to stay productive. One way to regulate his playing time is to have him catch Wakefield as if he were a normal pitcher. ‘Tek says he can handle Wakefield, but when asked about this possibility, Terry Francona said they don’t want this to happen. As good as Tito is, this is a move he probably will regret not doing in the future.

The Red Sox easily don’t have the best catching, but Varitek is still great defenseively and he is probably the best leader in baseball. As for his offense, it’s not like it can get any worse, right?